Ben Kweller (born June 16, 1981) is an American indie-rock and folk singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, born in San Francisco, California, but raised in Greenville, Texas, U.S.
Exposed to music at a young age by his father Howard Kweller, Ben Kweller learned to play the drums at a mere seven years of age. When Kweller’s father returned from being the town’s first doctor in the evening, he would sing and play guitar, and young Kweller would play drums along to The Beatles, The Hollies and Jimi Hendrix. Having been taught how to play the highly-covered song “Heart and Soul” by neighbour Nils Lofgren, Kweller subsequently used the chord to create his own compositions.
In 1993 Kweller formed the group Radish with local drummer John Kent and bassist Ryan Green. Together Radish independently released two albums “Hello” in 1994 and “Dizzy” in 1995, the latter of which earned an unexpected bidding war from labels, and Radish eventually signed to Mercury Records. After releasing the full-length “Restraining Bolt” and making appearances on “The Weird Al Show”, “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “Late Show with David Letterman”, the band developed a cult following in the UK, aided by the Top 40 hit “Little Pink Stars”. As a result of a label merger, the band’s subsequent album was never released and the Kweller decided pursued a solo career.
After moving to New York, U.S. aged 19, Kweller self-released four EPs including the unreleased Radish album “Discount Fireworks”. Another EP “Freak Out, It’s Ben Kweller” caught the ear of Evan Dando of The Lemonheads, and Kweller subsequently signed with ATO Records, releasing the five-track EP “Phone Home” in 2001. The singer-songwriter’s full-length “Sha Sha” arrived a year later earning a grassroots following for the largely word out mouth method of advertising it adopted.
In 2003, Kweller, alongside Ben Folds and Ben Lee, toured Australia as The Bens and crafted a self-titled four-track EP, followed a year later with his sophomore album “On My Way”. Noted for its live recording with little overdubs and no use of headphones, Kweller supported the album with his most extensive tour to date, co-headlining with Death Cab for Cutie.
Playing all the instruments himself on the record, Kweller’s eponymously-titled third studio-album, released in 2006, was followed by another supporting tour in which the musician expanded his band to a five-piece. In 2009 his fourth full-length album “Changing Horses” was issued, after it had been leaked on to the internet, featuring more country arrangements than its predecessors. Kweller subsequently released “Go Fly a Kite” on his own label, The Noise Company, in 2014.
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